PICS: Palpable fear of winter as thousands gather in Cork city to protest cost of living
Crowds on Patrick Street. Thousands attended the protest march. Pictures: Larry Cummins
A sea of people gathered on Grand Parade this afternoon in a demonstration of anger and frustration with the rising cost of living.
Several thousand people turned out to the protest organised by the Cost of Living Coalition in Cork city centre.
Palpable amongst those who gathered on Grand Parade was the fear about just how high bills might spiral this winter. For many, it was their first time joining any protest.
Pierce Murphy from Douglas said that he is “worried sick” about how he is going to make ends meet heading towards Christmas.
“I’m just an ordinary worker myself, and I’m worried sick about the winter coming.
"I wouldn’t be a big protester, but I feel very strongly today about the way we’re being treated by this government,” he said.
Mary O’Connor is a lone parent from Midleton, and said that trying to meet the rising cost of living at the moment on one income is “crazy”.
She said that this is the first time she has ever felt strongly enough to join a protest.
“I’m a lone parent and I just feel that prices are going crazy. If you have two incomes coming into the house it’s not so bad, but it’s just crazy and they don’t seem to be stopping,” she said.
Many people who turned out on Saturday also had strong feelings about profits reported by state owned energy company ESB this week, €390 million for the first six months of the year after tax and exceptional items – triple what was recorded for the same period in 2021.
"We own them, and they’re robbing us,” said Francis O’Donnell, who has meanwhile being “going without” to make sure he can pay his own ESB bill.
“I’m just frightened, I really am. I have to do without certain things to pay my ESB bill, otherwise I’m cut off, and I’m dreading the winter coming in, which is shocking. We have a government here that’s supposed to be supporting its people, but they are only there for the big companies and nobody else,” he said.
Sally Dunlea from Blarney cares for her father in law full time, and has been driven to protesting for the first time in her life, as she can’t cover her costs on the “pittance” carers allowance.
"Electricity bills, even running the car to get there to look after him, the cost of diesel is just crazy,” she said.
“I’ve never protested before in my life, but people are having enough of it now, what’s going on. They’re brushing everything under the carpet and they just want people to accept everything that they dish out, so that’s why we’re here today,” she added.
Solidarity TD for Cork North Central, Mick Barry, estimated that 5,000 people turned out to the cost of living demonstration, to get behind the demands of controlled prices for food, energy, and rent, as well as higher wages.
The government are trying to in effect cut the minimum, wage, cut the pay of public sector workers which includes our nurses, our health workers, our teachers,” he told The Echo.
“ESB is making profits of €2 million a day. If the government think that people are going to freeze in their homes this winter, and struggle to put food on the table for their kids, while energy companies are making those kinds of profits, they have another thing coming,” he added.
The demonstration in Cork comes ahead of a cost-of-living protest to be held in Dublin next Saturday, before the budget is officially presented on Tuesday September 27.
The Government is due to announce a number of one-off cost-of-living measures alongside Budget 2023, including another electricity grant to be made available before Christmas.
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